The author is a Forbes contributor. The opinions expressed are those of the writer.

Loading ...

Loading ...

This story appears in the {{article.article.magazine.pretty_date}} issue of {{article.article.magazine.pubName}}. Subscribe

The story of Funnyjunk lawyer Charles Carreon and Matthew Inman, AKA The Oatmeal, is only just now getting serious. Carreon may have come to the situation representing comedy aggregator Funnyjunk.com, but now he’s working on his own.

After Inman refused to send Funnyjunk $20,000 for alleged defamation, he decided instead to raise money for reputable charities using his massive following. First Carreon tried to get those charity drives shut down, and now he’s suing not only Inman, but the American Cancer Society, The National Wildlife Federation, and Indiegogo, the website Inman was using to collect donations.

Defendants Inman and IndieGogo are commercial fundraisers that failed to file disclosures or annual reports. Inman launched a Bear Love campaign, which purports to raise money for defendant charitable organizations, but was really designed to revile plaintiff and his client, Funnyjunk.com, and to initiate a campaign of "trolling" and cybervandalism against them, which has caused people to hack Inman's computer and falsely impersonate him. The campaign included obscenities, an obscene comics and a false accusation that FunnyJunk "stole a bunch of my comics and hosted them." Inman runs the comedy website The Oatmeal."

Carreon compared what was happening to him to a fundraiser that lets kids throw balls at girls accused of being witches in dunk tanks. There is money raised for charity, but the witches aren’t in on it. I don’t know enough about the vicissitudes of the law to comment on the strength of Carreon’s case, but if it’s a war he wanted, it’s a war he’s getting.

Reports are sketchy at the moment, and we’ll have more on the situation as it develops.